


SPACE BETWEEN US

by psychoticauthor (pschotichauthor)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Dorm Life - Freeform, Fluff, Jicheol, M/M, Romance, Skinship, trying to be cute but not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-03 05:57:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12742359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pschotichauthor/pseuds/psychoticauthor
Summary: Lee Jihoon hates physical contact more than anything else. Choi Seungcheol, on the other hand, loves skinship so much to the point he goes around giving the kids popo, every single day. Seungcheol also loves annoying Jihoon by giving him hugs and holding his hands until the latter turns tomato.Oh, he loves Jihoon, too, of course!





	1. CHAPTER I

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fluff fic, if I fail, please forgive me. I LOVE JICHEOL so freaking much, I'm puking rainbows and unicorns when I thought of this.

The kids went out to buy ice cream from the convenience store thar was three blocks away from their dorm. And as usual, Jihoon decided that it would be advantageous to him if he opted to stay inside than go out under the glaring sun. He'd rather play with his guitar and scribble with his pen than risk getting sweaty just to eat something frozen. Nope, he thought, he plans on living for much longer.

He was busy scrolling through numerous newly released MVs in Youtube when he heard the loud, familiar, annoying singing voice of Dokyeom from the floor below theirs. He wondered why were they back so fast.

"Jihoon-hyung!" The ball of annoying sunshine whined as he stormed inside the room and flung himself at Jihoon's back as soon as he saw his hyung. "Seungcheol-hyung is such a clumsy person! He forgot his purse! And he ordered me to get it! If not he would not treat the rest of us to some ice cream!"

Jihoon had to imaginatively cover his ears because Dokyeom was whining, too loud to his liking, next to his ears.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Get off me," he said calmly even though what he really wanted to do was grab his hand and throw him far. 

"Eh~ but hyung~"

In gritted teeth, Jihoon uttered, "Get. Off. Me. Lee. Seokmin."

To which the younger boy complied with no more qualms whatsoever for he feared for his voice, not his life, more than anything else. Dokyeom knew that his hyung could, and would grab the guitar next to them and hit him with it. If not possible, then Jihoon-hyung would run after him, a guitar clenched on his hand, and him, being the scaredy-cat that he was, would run away screaming at the top of his lungs. Dokyeom did not want any of that, they still have a gig tomorrow, his voice becoming hoarse was the last thing he wanted to happen.

"Ne, sorry, Jihoon-hyung," he jokingly knelt down on both knees while posing like he was pleading - well, technically, he was really pleading for his life.

Jihoon, on the other hand, still grabbed the guitar and hit Dokyeom at the back - just lightly, by his standards of "light".

The young one cried in pain and hilariously crawled his way out of the dorm while screaming for help. "Cheol-hyung! Jihoon-hyung hit me with the guitar! He's so tiny but he hit me!"

And by some unknown sorcery, Seungcheol appeared on the hallway and he humored Dokyeom's drama by picking him up from the floor and giving him a big kiss on the cheeks. "It's alright. It's alright. That kid is a monster. A cute monster!" He looked at Jihoon, "Aigoo~"

Dokyeom laughed at the cooing sounds that Seungcheol made in reference to Jihoon but before he get hit again for laughing at the teasing, Dokyeom hurriedly descended the stairs, away from Jihoon and his guitar, away from what he thought would be the impending death of their leader, Choi Seungcheol.

The latter, however, seemed unfazed by the glares that Jihoon, the cute small man, kept on directing towards him. He even mustered the courage to take a step inside the room. When he saw Jihoon tightened his grip on the guitar, Seungcheol motioned for him to calm down, as if he was pacifying an angered lion…ess.

“Stop it,” Jihoon warned when Seungcheol kept on teasing him.

“Stop what?” The older boy smirked, enjoying the annoyed look at his dongsaeng’s face.

“I’m not a baby, so stop cooing me.” Jihoon ordered through gritted teeth.

“Ey~”

“Hyung. Stop. It.” He growled each word.

Seungcheol was only a feet away. “But you are so small, tiny, fluffy, cu- aww!”

Jihoon hit him, harder than he did to Dokyeom. And it was written on some legends that Choi Seungcheol, the leader of hip-hop unit, father of 11 boys (yes, he did not ever consider Lee Jihoon as his child), the man in command of the greatest Korean boy group that walked the Earth, was beaten to death by a small, fluffy creature called Jihoon aka Woozi.

Well, not really.

“Aww!” Seungcheol screamed in pain when Jihoon hit him again, and again, and again. Neither of them remembered how many times Seungcheol got hit, all they knew was that Jihoon was enjoying himself and Cheol was basically starting to bleed internally when they stopped because of Dokyeom.

“Why are you here?” Jihoon asked, putting the guitar down. As if the act would enable him to hide his traces on the crime of the scene.

Dokyeom gulped, afraid he would be next. “I forgot the purse?” He grabbed the forgotten item from the drawer next to the door and showed it to his hyung before fleeing again.

“What a party pooper,” Jihoon muttered under his breath.

He looked at Seungcheol who was lying on the carpeted floor and was groaning in pain. Jihoon rolled his eyes at the scene, thinking to himself what a great actor their leader was. He reached out his hand, which the other took, and helped him got up to his feet. The latter took that opportunity to wrap the small, fluffy creature in his arms. Woozi struggled to get out, however, the taller one was also the stronger one.

After a minute of struggling, Jihoon just gave up. He let his hyung give him a long and big hug. But Seungcheol was not yet satisfied by that, he took both of his dongsaeng’s arms and wrapped them around his body. He smiled to himself when Jihoon  did not unwrap his arms. He then rested his chin on top of the boy’s head and rocked their bodies on the sway of the silent music playing around them.

They were like that for a good of ten minutes. Wrapped in each other’s arms, swaying to a non-existent love song, satisfied with the silence of the room. Well, until they heard the singing of both Dokyeom and Seungkwan from downstairs.

Jihoon was the first one to pul away. Seungcheol wanted to stay on their position for much longer but knew that Jihoon did not like the idea of other people seeing him being touchy with another. However, before they were totally separated, Cheol pulled him again for one short yet tight hug. He was not satisfied with that so he cupped Jihoon’s cheeks and planted a quick kiss on his forehead.

Jihoon blushed.

And somewhat, Seungcheol felt proud.

When 11 boys came walking inside the house, the tension was still up. Dokyeom who knew of the attempted murder that was committed was oblivious of the fact that the tension was because of something else, however the other 10 knew otherwise.

“Hyung!” Dokyeom run towards Cheol and hugged him. “You’re alive!” He exclaimed which Cheol answered by shouting that he was indeed alive.

It was thanks to the naivety of DK that the tension suddenly flew out the window and Jihoon got the chance to regain his composure from the popo attack. His blush faded and the racing of his heart slowed down.

Jeonghan who had the clearest hunch on what could have happened before they arrived looked at Seungcheol then at Jihoon and smiled. He nudged Joshua’s side and they exchanged knowing gazes. Nothing can escape the eyes of the 95 line.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

It was already three in the morning and Jihoon was still at his studio trying to compose a new song for Seventeen's upcoming mini-album. He had been working on their new songs for the past few days and it started great, he was able to produce three songs in less than a week. But something was wrong with him yesterday, his head was in the clouds and he could not seem to keep himself together. He was stuck at the first verse of their supposed-mellow-new-song since yesterday afternoon, and now that it was already early in the next day, he was starting to stress over it. Jihoon's eyes were heavy and his brain's refusing to function properly. He yawned. 

 _Well, that's it. I need to take a nap,_ he thought to himself while he leaned back in his chair,  _for just a few minutes_. 

It did not feel that long since he drifted to sleep when he heard a movement from outside his studio room but he thought nothing of it. Maybe it was just one of his members, or one of the staff, either way, he just wanted to continue sleeping. The door was carefully opened and he felt someone's presence inside the room with him. He tried peeking with one eye but his eyes were too tired. 

"Jihoon-a..."

A tap on his shoulders. He just answered with a hum.

"Go and sleep on the couch or go back to the dorm,'' the voice was sweetly too deep that it bothered Jihoon a bit.

"Later,'' was his brief and uncaring reply.

"You'll just get more tired by sleeping here," the persona stated while his hands grasped Jihoon's shoulders.

The touch annoyed Jihoon but he was too exhausted to even retaliate. He just let out a small grunt. The person did not say anything for a while and Jihoon heard the door being opened, Jihoon was a bit grateful that the person decided to leave him be and continue with his  _short nap_. Deep slumber was already setting in when he felt an arm being wrapped around his shoulder and under his legs, next thing he knew he was already being lifted from the chair. He grunted in an attempt to question what was happening, however, the person carrying him, bridal style, seemed to have not heard his soft grunt or chose not to. 

When Jihoon's eyes finally cooperated and he was able to finally take a peek, he saw the perpetrator to be none other than their leader, Choi Seungcheol, who was so focused on carefully carrying him out of the studio that he did not notice Jihoon half-awake looking at him. Jihoon, being the tired person that he was that morning, decided that he'd just let his hyung carry him embarrassingly onto the couch in the practice room. And as if the fatigue was some kind of spell, Jihoon's arm willingly wrapped themselves around Cheol's neck. That was when Cheol realized that Jihoon was kind-of awake.

"I'm going to put you down on the couch, 'kay?" Cheol smiled softly at his dongsaeng while the latter agreed to his suggestion without putting a fight, which he usually did. That shocked Cheol a bit but also made him smile even wider while shaking his head in disbelief.  _He must be so tired_ , he thought to himself.

When Cheol was able to lay Jihoon down on the couch, the younger one was already fast asleep and was even snoring softly. The leader chuckled at the sight, grabbed a blanket somewhere in the room, and tucked his Jihoon under it. He made sure that the blanket covered Jihoon's entire body before he went inside to the studio and saved all the works done by Jihoon before turning the computer and lights off. 

 

```

 

One by one, the Seventeen members entered the practice room, unaware of the fact that their hardworking producer was in there - sleeping. Seungcheol who also dozed off after making sure that his dongsaeng was comfortable, positioned against the couch where Jihoon was, woke up at the footsteps of the rest of his team. Still half-awake, he asked Jeonghan what time it was.

"7:14," Jeonghan replied while he took off his jacket and wrapped it around Seungcheol who slept without any warm clothing.

It was 7am and Jihoon had just been out for more or less four hours. "Kids, be quiet," he warned the others while pointing at the sleeping Jihoon. "He just got to rest around three," he got up and put on Jeonghan's jacket. 

The bunch quieted down at the orders of their leader and dispersed to different areas of the room doing productive and not-so- things. However, it seemed that it was built-in on the systems of Dokyeom, Soonyoung, and Seungkwan to be hyper and loud that just after five minutes of silence they started joking around again. This time, even louder.

Jihoon stirred in his sleep, he was already becoming aware of his surroundings - loud surroundings.  _Again_ , he muttered to himself,  _them again_. It was not a secret within Pledis that those three Seventeen members were the loudest no matter the time of the day, nor the place. When they are together one should expect the house to become noisy and rowdy.

He tried to muffle the loudness by covering his ears with a throwpillow, but their voices and laughter were too loud that it seemed nothing can silence their volume. 

Annoyed, Jihoon got up from the sofa, stormed into his studio, and slammed the door. The entire studio froze. Jihoon, on the other side of the walls, sat on his seat and tried to get back to sleep. But he was so irritated that his mind started to think and become busy, disabling him from returning to dream land.

"Jihoon?" 

Seungcheol called out to him but did not dare enter the room, him calling out to his dongsaeng first was his way of asking if he was okay and if it was okay to enter the room.

"What?" Jihoon did not even bother looking at his hyung. It was not that he did not want to, but he would just lash out at him if he did. He did not want that, he was feeling thankful and sorry towards that hyung that he did not want to get mad at him.

"The others want to say something," the oldest one in the group stated while the younger ones hid behind his back. 

It was a known fact, not just in the group, but also within the company, that when Lee Jihoon was irritated or angry then all hell would break loose. No one should dare getting on the bad side of Jihoon, he really bites.

"What?" Was his curt reply.

"Go on," Cheol urged the three loudest members to go forward and say their piece.

"Jihoon-a~" Soonyoung started.

"Sorry, hyung!" Dokyeom followed suit.

"We were loud," Soonyoung continued. "While you were sleeping."

"And..." Seungkwan looked at his fellow suspects, "And, we did not think about how tired you were!"

"We're really sorry!" The three exclaimed in unison while they bowed down to their group's producer.

Jihoon did not say anything, he just pinched the bridge of his nose while he kept his back against them. It was already an awkward and fearful minutes of silence after the three said their sorry and Jihoon was still not saying anything. Seungcheol felt that Jihoon was being a bit stubborn for not forgiving the group after they already asked for forgiveness.

"Jihoon-a," He started softly. "Shouldn't you forgive them already?"

Silence.

"Jihoon-a!"

Still, silence.

"Lee. Jihoon."

"Aish!" He finally answered in an annoyed tone.

Seungcheol, who treasured the feeling of being respected as the oldest one and as the leader, felt offended at his dongsaeng's actions. "What the? Jihoon, look here."

He did not. And when he did not do as what he was told, Cheol got annoyed at him. He yanked the studio's door open which made the other eleven back away. Two of their leaders were annoyed, and that was not a good sign. Hoshi, the peacemaker, tried to pull Seungcheol by the arms but failed to do so. When he knew that the other two would start arguing, he ordered the ten kids to go out. Soonyoung thought that them hearing the ensuing battle would be bad for the spirit of the group.

"Come on, come on," he gestured for the group to go out. "Let's practice by the river, ne?" He tried to laugh it off.

The kids followed the plea of the performance team's leader and walked out of the practice room. However, Jeonghan and Jisoo stayed.

"Jeonghan-hyung," Hoshi pleaded two of the 95-line to also go out. "Joshua-hyung, let's go."

The two looked at Hoshi then at the closed studio room, muffled shouting could be heard, then back at Hoshi who was looking anywhere but the  _room_. The two draped their arms around the young leader and led him out of the practice room.

 

```

 

Jihoon was just tired. And he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, well, couch. He  _disrespected_ his hyung aka leader-nim and had a heated argument with him. He knew he was at the wrong but he did not want to back down. When Seungcheol walked out on him after giving him a lecture on respect and forgiving others, Jihoon stayed in the studio and stared blankly at the black screen of his computer. After an hour of basically staring off into space, he got up and went out. The kids were back and practicing, the three guys who were the main culprit were the first ones to greet him and again said their sorry. 

"Na, it's alright now. I was just tired," he tried to smile at them. "I'm sorry, too," he sincerely apologized while bowing his head to them. While doing so, his vision landed on Choi Seungcheol who was sitting on a chair just a few feet away from where they were. Their eyes met but they both looked away at the same time.

After a few minutes of saying their apologies to each other and joking around with the other guys, except his Cheol-hyung because they were still fighting, Jihoon decided to sneakily leave the building with a pen and paper in his hands.

He took out his phone from his pocket, opened Melon, scrolled through some newly released songs, decided on one, put on his earphones, and leisurely walked where his feet would lead him to.

Seungcheol's uncaring look earlier was still replaying in his head. Jihoon remembered how Seungcheol never get that angry, he would be annoyed and it would show on his expressions. But a Seungcheol whose eyes reflected nothing, lips on a straight line, and whose tone was monotonous? Jihoon had never encountered that.

He got chills just by thinking back on that Choi Seungcheol. But now that he thought about it, was it really that of a big deal that he did not  _forgive_ the others that easily? That he  _disrespected_ the leader by letting out an irritated sound? Or were they just both overreacting on things?

Jihoon let out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever!"

 

```

 

Seungcheol saw Jihoon leave the room trying not to get noticed. He saw him because he was watching him. He wanted to punch himself in the face for getting irritated at Jihoon when he knew of all people that the guy was just exhausted that was why he got annoyed easily. He did not know what had gotten to him when Jihoon answered him in an irritated tone that he just snapped.

He grumbled to himself. "Idiot."

The kids saw and probably heard them argue, shout at each other. In the first place, that was so immature of them, to let the others see them fighting. Secondly, it was so immature of him to get offended by Jihoon's reaction when in fact he had been doing that for the longest time. Thirdly, it was so immature of Lee Jihoon to not forgive the kids when they already apologized and for answering his, Seungcheol's, anger with more anger.

"Hoshi-ya!" 

Soonyoung looked at Cheol who was motioning him to come, he stopped dancing and walked towards the leader. "Ne, hyung?" He asked while wiping the sweat off his face.

"I'll be going out," he tilted his head towards the direction of the kids. "Look after them, okay? I'll be back quickly. Just need to fetch one lost lamb," he winked.

Soonyoung looked around and understood quickly what, or who, the  _lost lamb_ was. "Okay, hyung!"

Seungcheol headed towards the door when Joshua and Jeonghan blocked his way. 

"Bring this," Joshua handed him an umbrella. "It looks like it's going to snow soon."

Jeonghan took out a bag of handwarmer from his own pocket, "And this. Since I only have two, and I'm cold too, I'm lending you one. Just share it with the tiny one if you need to."

"Or want to," the two chimed in unison and moved away from the door to let him pass through.

Seungcheol shook his head while laughing at the antics of his friends. He waved them good bye before running after his  _lost lamb_.

"Look at him trying to act cool," Joshua commented.

"Right?" Jeonghan could never agree more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LOVE JICHEOL. I LOVE JIHAN.
> 
> I LOVE WRITING SOMETHING LIGHT! AND SORTA FLUFFY! 
> 
> ANYWAY, I'LL BE EDITING THIS ONE SOON, IF I HAVE TIME. Please forgive any errors in grammar, typos, and whatnots. Or better, let me know them in the comment box down below?
> 
> Enjoyed it? Let me know, please!  
> Disliked it? Please tell me, help me.  
> Suggestions on how they would make up? I AM UP FOR THEM!
> 
> thankyou


	3. Chapter 3

Choi Seungcheol never thought that once in his life he would become a stalker of a small, black-haired fairy. He was also amazed of the fact that even though he was just three feet away from the target, the target himself seemed to be oblivious of his presence. 

“Jihoon-a~” He tried calling out to him in a small voice. The guy did not budge.

“Jihoon-a!” This time he was a bit louder, and nearer, but it seemed like Woozi still could not hear him.

He took an intake of breath and released it with a shout, “Jihoon!” No. Nothing.

Seungcheol, being a feet behind, could hear the loud banging of some indie-rock music that came from Jihoon’s earphones which were neatly tucked in on his ears. _That was why_ ; he shook his head in disbelief and worry because of how loud the music was. He wanted to take them out but knew that Jihoon was not in the mood to play with his games, _not that he was playing_.

After a few seconds of deliberating on what to do in order for Jihoon to realize his presence and to, hopefully, get him away from that extremely loud music, the said man turned a corner, went into an alley, and entered an unknown place. Seungcheol examined the area first, it was upright in an alley, three steep steps in front of the door, broken glasses on the door that were _fixed_ using wood, and a small bell hanging. _Well, not so bad? I think?_

Seungcheol grabbed the doorknob, twisted it open, heard a loud creak from the movement, and entered. His forehead wrinkled from what he was seeing: the room was kind of rustic, the ambiance felt like the world was filtered with sepia, a wooden counter at the far back of the room, couches and wooden benches and tables filled the room, and a soothing jazz music was playing. He stared at the counter and saw that in front was a small blackboard, he walked towards there and saw that what were written were _food of the day_. His nose also encountered the strong aroma of freshly ground coffee.

“Good morning, Sir. May I take your order?” A petite-young girl appeared from the door at the back of the counter, which Cheol believed to be the kitchen, and stood before him, all-smiles.

“Uh,” he looked at the menu; saw that there was no menu for drinks. “A small guy with black hair entered the shop before me, and I was wondering if where is he?”

The young cashier seemed to have scrutinized him first because her eyes fell on his feet then back at his eyes then back at his feet again before she looked at him on the eyes and smiled. “Yes, Sir. He’s at the second floor.”

Seungcheol smiled at the lady, grateful for the information, and proceeded to the second floor. When he arrived at the last step of the stairs, he immediately scanned the entire area and saw a familiar back at the farthest corner. Jihoon was bobbing his head on the beat of the blues music that was currently playing and seemed to be scribbling from the movements of his hand.

Cheol slowly made his way towards Jihoon, hearing the creaking of the old wooden floors with his every step, and when he was finally just a step away from the younger guy he stopped. He clenched his fists, hesitated for a second before unclenching and reaching out for the guy’s shoulders. Cheol gently tapped Jihoon.

“Yes?” Jihoon looked over his shoulder, his hands still scribbling something down on the paper. When the boy saw that it was his leader who tapped him he turned his back at him and asked Cheol what was it that the leader wanted.

Cheol pouted when Jihoon turned his back on him. He took the seat beside him and rested his head on his arms which he folded atop the table. He stared at Jihoon who was so busy ignoring him. A few minutes in and he was still pouting at the boy who was not giving him any attention, the leader started to use his special weapon – puppy eyes plus small whining sounds.

Jihoon, who was starting to get affected by the cute actions of the guy beside him, sighed in disbelief, put his pen down, and turned to look at his leader, who was, at that time, perked up on his seat and smiling from ear-to-ear.

“So, what do you want?” Jihoon asked in a calm manner.

Seungcheol looked straight at his eyes, “You?”

Jihoon almost choked at the joke. “What?”

“You,” Cheol repeated with firmness.

“Stop joking, Choi Seungcheol.”

The guy smirked when he saw the tiny blushes appearing on Woozi’s cheeks. He even purposely closed the distance between them up to two-inches apart just to see the tiny blushes become a block of red on the younger guy’s face.

Jihoon moved back to widen the distance. “Stop coming near me. It’s annoying.”

“I was just answering your question?” Cheol stated matter-of-factly.

“By coming closer?” Jihoon could not believe his ears.

“By answering.”

“You were so close to me! The?”

“No, cussing.”

“Then stop bothering me!” Jihoon shouted. He regretted it when Cheol moved back, too, and looked at him in disbelief.

The leader sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for doing that but you need not to shout.”

Jihoon did not answer.

Seungcheol shook his head in surrender and stood up. “I came to get you. Wanted to say sorry for what happened this morning. But I guess you’re still mad at me. I just wanted to get you back in the practice room so that the kids will not feel anxious anymore.”

He looked at Jihoon who was looking anywhere but him. He sighed, again. “Anyway, yeah, keep warm!” Before he left guilty Jihoon, Cheol placed on the table the pocket warmer that Jeonghan lend to him.

Jihoon wanted to stop Cheol but he did not want for it to end up like some cheesy drama wherein the main character would stop the other main character from leaving and so on. Jihoon, as far as he was concerned, wanted to keep the cheesiness and skinship, any kind of ship aside from friendship, to a bare minimum. His overthinking stopped him from running after Seungcheol and saying sorry.

He cussed himself for it. Took his notebook, pen, phone, and the pocket warmer that was left for him and descended the stairs to quickly go after the sulking leader and say his own piece. He almost missed the remaining few flight of stairs when he saw the Choi-freaking-Seungcheol was there waiting for him, with a big smile on his face.

“Knew it,” the older kid teased Jihoon, who at that moment wanted to throw the things he was holding.

Due to his annoyance, Woozi found himself unable to speak. Seungcheol took that opportunity to put his arms over the shoulders of the small one and led him out of the rusty coffee shop.

They were quiet all the way back with Cheol’s arms still clinging on Jihoon’s shoulders.

Before they entered the building, Jihoon cleared his throat which caught the attention of Seungcheol. “I’m sorry,” Woozi apologized in a whisper.

 _That’s just so like him_ , Cheol thought. To which he answered by pulling him closer and tightening his hold of Woozi’s shoulders as they entered the building where their fellow members were waiting for them.


	4. Chapter 4

The rays of the sun trickled in between the small openings of the drapes of Seungcheol’s room; every now and then the blinding light of the sun passes over Cheol’s closed eyes. He is awake but not so – in the midst of waking up and sleeping in. He tossed to the side trying to avoid the sunlight but instead was met with the edge of his single bed causing him to fall, face first, to the wooden floor. He grunted. He is awake now.

Seungcheol pushed himself up from the floor and decided, just for the heck of it, to do a hundred more. “Good morning,” he said to no one in particular. “Good morning!” Louder this time while he barged outside to the living room.

He saw no one but heard utensils clamping in the kitchen. He proceeded there. He was left with his mouth agape when he saw Jihoon, the always-tired-one, with an apron wrapped around his body flipping some pancakes. Damn boy knows how to flip them cakes.

“What you up to so early?” Cheol looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind the fridge.

Jihoon, who was startled by the sudden presence, looked over his shoulder before getting back to his cooking. “Cooking pancakes?”

“Where are the kids?”

“Either sleeping or taking a walk with Jeonghan-hyung.”

Cheol snorted. “Why are the two laziest members up so early?”

“What time is it?”

“Seven in the morning?”

The small one grunted.

“You did not look at the clock?” Cheol laughed at the younger one’s clumsiness.

Jihoon plated the pancake on top of three others he already finished cooking. Put some batter in again and resumed his cooking. He opened the fridge which was right next to the stove and took out the bar of butter they have.

“Mind looking for the maple syrup?” Without glancing over at Cheol, the older one perceived the question to be an order so he did as he understood it. He moved away from the counter where he was standing watching Jihoon and went to the cabinet they use as pantry. He rummaged through the contents for a good of a minute and found what he was looking for. Cheol walked towards Jihoon and placed the gallon of maple syrup next to the plate of pancakes.

“Drizzle some,” Jihoon was still focused on flipping his cakes.

“Some as in some or some as in tooth-ache some?”

“The latter,” Jihoon halted. “Ah, up to you.”

Cheol hummed while he put in just the right amount of sweet on top of the four-tiered pancake.  “Done. Here.”

“That’s for you,” Jihoon opened the drawer where the plates were kept and took out one. He moved the cooked pancake from the pan to the plate.

“Mine?” Shock was written all over Cheol’s face but still found himself taking a seat on the stool of the kitchen counter. _Won’t going to pass on this opportunity_.

“Washafdo?” His mouth was instantly full from stuffing a whole round piece of the pancake – hastily at that almost causing him to choke. He prevented it though, gulped down a glass of milk.

Jihoon turned around to give the older boy a glance which turned into a scrutinizing look when he noticed he was _almost_ choking. “What are you doing?”

Cheol released an intake of breathe. “Trying to extend my lifespan?”

 “And being an idiot?”

“Most likely.”

Jihoon shook his head in laughter, returning his attention to the last piece of pancake he was cooking. After plating his share of breakfast he moved to the counter, just across Cheol, and sat there. Unlike the rowdy older one, Jihoon took his time in slicing through his three-tiered pancake, forking them, and putting them inside his mouth. He chewed slowly, marveling at the taste of his own creation. _Edible_.

Cheol who learned a thing or two from his near-choke experience took his time, the second round, in eating the remaining three pieces. “Anyway, what is up?”

Jihoon did not answer. Not that he get what the other is asking.

“Why did you cook pancakes for me?”

Jihoon shrugged. Continued eating.

“Is it April Fools?” Cheol glanced at the desk calendar near the edge of the counter. _December._

“You just woke up when I was cooking my share, might as well do my share of good deeds now.” Jihoon chewed on his last slice.

 _Well, that was fast_. “Are you done?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon got up and placed his plate in the dishwasher. “Want me to buy you something?”

Seungcheol looked up from his plate. “Where are you going? Convi?”

Jihoon let out a hum as an answer while he looked at his phone.

“Wait for me,” Cheol hurriedly finished his plate, proceeded to the dishwasher and placed his own plate inside, too. “Lemme grab my parka.” He sprinted to his room then back to the living room where Jihoon was waiting for him by the door.

* * *

 

 

Oh My! was playing at the convenience store they went to, the one near their dorm. When they entered and the leader heard their song playing he started to jump up and down, like a kid who saw his favorite toy.

Jihoon hurriedly scan through the aisles of the convenience store. One, he wanted to finish his shopping fast. Two, he wanted to disassociate himself from the hyper Cheol, near the counter, being frowned upon by the cashier, by distancing himself from him – physically.

He stopped his tracks on the noodles aisle. He carefully scanned through his options, picked five cups, then proceeded to the sandwich section. Grabbed a tuna, a ham-and-cheese, and  a grilled cheese. _Done._ He proceeded to the counter where he found Cheol chatting up the cashier – he heard things like _“Thanks”, “Clap”,_ etc.

“Stop promoting,” he smacked the back of Cheol’s head.

The leader whimpered and pouted in response to the attack. His eyes bulged when he saw the basket of Jihoon. “Are you buying all of those?”

Jihoon nodded and placed the basket on top of the cashier’s counter. He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket.

“Are you eating them all?”

“Duh?”

“Why aren’t you growing then?”

He kicked the back of the knee of Cheol.

“Hey! That hurts!”

“I don’t care.” Jihoon took a two 10.000 won bills from his wallet and handed them to the cashier. When he received the tray of cooked noodles and microwaved sandwiches he headed to the high table near the entrance and started eating there.

The cashier, probably charmed by Cheol, played another of their songs. _Thanks_.

“You need to learn how to keep to yourself,” Jihoon stated matter-of-factly while taking a huge bite of the tuna sandwich.

“Promotions, dear. Promotions.”

“What if he turned into a sasaeng?”

Cheol grabbed the grilled sandwich from Jihoon’s tray and took a bite. “You need to learn how to trust people. Hey!”

Jihoon grabbed the sandwich back. “Mine. Buy yours.”

“What is yours is mine. And what is mine is mine.”

“What is mine is not fucking yours. You have the money.”

“You earn more than me.”

“Not true.”

“Royalties, remember?”

Jihoon grunted. “You also earn from them.”

“Not as much as yours.”

“Fine,” he pushed the sandwich back to Cheol’s hands after taking a small bite.

“Yay! Indirect kiss!”  The older boy raised his hands and waved them in both excitement and hopes of annoying the younger one.

Jihoon snorted, opening another cup noodles. “Why get excited over an indirect kiss when I could have kissed you directly?” His eyebrows were raised in an attempt to annoy back Cheol.

Seungcheol gagged, his eyes widened in shock, and slowly lowered his arms. He rested them on Jihoon’s shoulder, turning the boy to face him. “Are you sick?” He was seriously starting to get creeped out.

 “What?” Jihoon did not even bother swatting away the hands on his shoulders. He dead-on looked straight into Cheol’s orbs, “Don’t want me to kiss you?”

“Well, I won’t pass up on that offer,” his face scrunched into a manner that showed how much he was debating on whether to smack his lips on the boy in front of him or to rock some sense into him. He chose the latter.

“Stop!” Jihoon grabbed the older one’s arms to make him stop from rocking him back and forth on his stool.

Cheol did stop but he did not take his hands off Jihoon’s shoulders. “Seriously, what is up?”

“What?”

“Why are you being…” he tried searching for a proper term. “Weird?”

“How?” He looked over his shoulder and saw that no more steam was coming up from his noodles. “Hey, mind if you let me eat my purchase?”

“Oh, right,” Cheol lifted his hands from the shorter one’s shoulders. “Sorry.”

Jihoon murmured an “oh sure” which Cheol clearly heard. “So, I’m being weird?”

“Yeah?” The taller one was unsure of his answer thinking that that is not the proper term, but whatever.

“How so?”

“Waking up early? Cooking me pancakes?” He folded his pinky and ring finger to count his points. “Telling me you’d give me a direct kiss?” He folded the remaining three. _Yep, that deserves three fingers._

“So?”

“It’s…”

“Gross?”

“No!”

“Disgusting?”

“That’s the same thing. But, no.”

“Creepy?”

“Kinda?”

Jihoon laughed. “Don’t like me doing that?”

Cheol shook his head in negation.

Jihoon opened his last piece of sandwich and munched on it. “Then what?”

“Not just you,” Cheol shrugged. “I guess?”

“You guess?” He took his last bite and crumpled the plastic and placed it next to the emptied cup noodles.  “I can be… hmm, what adjective is that? Sweet? Yeah, I can be sweet, too.” After finishing three cups of noodles and two sandwiches on top of three pancakes, his stomach was now starting to ache. He pushed the tray to Cheol’s direction.  “Finish them for me?” He gave him a pout and some puppy eyes.

Well, he did not have to do that because Cheol would have eaten them if he just normally asked. But since Jihoon tried being cute _just for him_ might as well go to the end of the world for him. “Anything for you,” he winked.

Jihoon chirped a _thanks_ while doing a little dance ceremony. “Do you think I’m sweet?”

Cheol looked up from eating the noodles, some strands slurped sloppily to answer the question. “Sweeter than the sweetest sweetener in the world!” His voice full of conviction, even gave the boy a thumbs up.

“Thanks,” Jihoon laughed. “Heard that?” He picked up his phone, when Cheol glanced over he saw the screen on call-mode.  He put the phone on speaker.

“Why do we have to bet on Cheol-hyung? He is the most whipped person for you.” It was Hoshi’s voice.

Cheol looked confused. “What?”

“Made a bet,” Jihoon shrugged as if it is the most natural thing to do.

“Care to explain?” Cheol leaned his arms to the table, eye of confusion staring at Jihoon.

“The small fucker over there and I had an argument because I was asking him what to do on a date. Then he said watch some Netflix or something. I was like, no! I want something sweet. And he was like, that’s sweet, chilling. So, I said to him there’s no ounce of sweetness in his body.” Soonyoung, who was on loudspeaker, was probably shouting over his mouthpiece because his screams could dig through one’s eardrums.

“Shut up, eyes. You’re on loudspeaker?” Jihoon rolled his eyes to no one in particular. “Anyway, so yeah, I was like, uh… I am sweet. I can be sweet. Wanna bet on it?”

“So, thus, these?” Cheol sighed in disbelief.

Jihoon nodded. And Soonyoung can be heard agreeing from the phone.

“Why me?”

“Well, you’re the first one to appear this morning?”

“So, if it was Mingyu or Wonwoo…”

“Or any other one for that matter, then they would have been the one to eat and taste my marvelous pancakes.”

“Right…” Seungcheol run his fingers through his hair, rising annoyance was etched on his face. “Okay.” He breathed slowly. “Whatever.” He resumed his eating. _Well, damn shit_.

“Are you mad?” Jihoon leaned forward and tried to search for Cheol’s eyes. He failed at meeting them though.

“No.”

Soonyoung must have sensed the annoyance of Cheol thus ending the phone call immediately. Jihoon was now left on his own.

“I’m sorry?”

“For what?”

“Betting?”

“Right,” Cheol slurped the soup from the cup. Got up from the stool with the tray of trash to clean up, Jihoon followed suit. They left the store with Cheol taking up big and hurried steps and Jihoon doing his best to catch up.

“Seungcheol,” Jihoon called out.

The older one stopped on his tracks. “What?” He looked over his shoulder and saw the younger one a few feet behind him.

“Don’t be mad?”

“I am not particularly mad though?”

When Jihoon finally caught up to Cheol and was now standing in front of him, with heavy breathing, he searched for any sign of anger on the older’s face. True to what he said, he was not mad.

“Annoyed?”

“Somehow?”

Jihoon nodded. “Sorry.”

“Okay.”

And that was it. They proceeded on going home, walking side by side. And maybe that’s the thing with longtime friends they just easily understand one another and quick to forgive the mistake of the half. Jihoon could have not been any more thankful that he is friends with Cheol.

 

… _friends._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter sucks 
> 
> huhuhu

**Author's Note:**

> I just wrote this down during office hours so please be lenient about the typos, grammar errors, and whatnots. I just enjoyed thinking and imagining of Jicheol that I had to write them down quickly without getting caught by my boss.
> 
> Please R&R~ and leave comments on what fluffy moments should be.


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